TWO men who were allegedly part of a group describing mourners of Fusilier Lee Rigby ‘scum of the earth’ have appeared in court charged with terrorism offences.

Tuhin Shahensha, 27, and Mustakim Jaman, 23, both of Southsea, Portsmouth, were part of a ‘WhatsApp’ group which helped men travel to Syria and even drove them to Gatwick Airport, Kingston Crown Court heard today.

They were brothers of ‘celebrity jihadi’ Ifthekar Jaman, who was killed fighting in the war-torn country in December 2013, and shared the same deeply-held radical beliefs, the jury were told.

The pair deny providing assistance to others for the preparation of terrorist acts between June 2013 and October 2014, and Shahensha also denies another charge of preparing for terrorist acts.

Text conversations in which the pair said they “didn’t want to live here forever”, were read out in court today as part of a WhatsApp conversation named ‘M’ where 17,000 messages were transferred between a number of people.

The pair allegedly provided funds, bank accounts and information to help at least five men travel to Syria, all of whom were part of the WhatsApp group.

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Mustakim Jaman is charged alongside Tuhin Shahensha

The support and assistance of the defendants continued right up to their departure: they drove three of them to the railway station

Gareth Patterson, prosecuting

Shahensha himself was also ready to travel when he was arrested, and in preparation had allegedly purchased a military scarf.

Gareth Patterson, prosecuting, told the court messages were exchanged about Muslims who attended a service at the end of Ramadan and prayers that were said for the murdered soldier Lee Rigby.

He added that one group member - Mish - described those who attended as 'the scum of the Earth' and in a message, Shahensha, who often used Bengali to avoid detection, refused a blind date with a girl, writing: “I don't want to live here forever. I plan to move. Which may mean leaving my family etc behind. The path I want to take is likely to drain me out in terms of effort.”

The court was told he said it would be wrong to “drag someone along” with him as there aren’t many people who would be “willing to sacrifice their current home and comforts.”

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The pair allegedly helped five people travel to Syria

But he described fighting for Jihad as a “beautiful path” “in terms of its rewards.”

In May 2013, Ifthekar had already begun his journey to Syria and encouraged others to follow him.

It is alleged Ifthekar transferred £563 into Shahensha’s account to pay for five flights from Gatwick to Antalya in Turkey. The group was to leave on October 8 2013.

Gareth Patterson, prosecuting, said: “The support and assistance of the defendants continued right up to their departure: they drove three of them to the railway station.”

The pair claim they didn’t know the group were going to Syria to fight with Islamic State.